California · Nonprofit
BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER
BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,526,172 to it, the largest being JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION ($1,182,866). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $3.0M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $1.5M
- Net assets
- $19M
What Berkeley Geochronology Center does
Mission
Berkeley Geochronology Center (bgc) is dedicated to establishing the history of the earth, its various inhabitants, and its interactions with the rest of our solar system, throughout the 4.6 billion years of our planet's existence. This mission is centered on development, refinement, and application of geological dating methods.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
General research - bgc's primary activities include research on the nature and timing of events in the history of earth and evolution of inhabitants, refinement of technology, laboratory methods, and dissemination of results through publications and other media.
$1,816,719 spent75% of program spendingCollaborative research - research initiated by scientists at other institutions whose studies require geochronological data are often undertaken by bgc scientists on a collaborative basis.
$572,461 spent23% of program spendingEducational outreach - bgc conducts educational outreach with graduate students whose research involves geochronology, and provides research experience for undergraduate students. Bgc scientists serve as research advisors to graduate students at ucb and other universities both nationally and internationally.
$47,513 spentof which $61,647 as grants2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,436,693.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $4.8M to $20M (+302%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 18% · 2018 27% · 2019 23% · 2020 26% · 2021 16% · 2022 81% · 2023 20% · 2024 5% · 2025 24% · 2026 33%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 10 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
John Clarke
Board chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $355k → $231k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $17M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts). These are real filings, and they are not money BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER raised.
From the IRS filings of BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 78% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 88% · 2021 88% · 2022 91% · 2023 77% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER's revenue grew 17% between 2017 and 2026.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 456 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2026
Government funding BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.4M on record.
- National Science Foundation$6.1M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$309k
- Department of the Interior$20k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER?
- BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,526,172 to it, the largest being JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION ($1,182,866). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $1,526,172 in grants to BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER?
- JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,182,866 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BERKELEY GEOCHRONOLOGY CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Berkeley Geochronology Center →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing